Tag Archives: Arnolin

Least Prolific Teams in the League Face Off

Kerala Blasters FC will travel to the land of sun and sand to take on FC Goa in Fatorda’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Both of these teams haven’t been having a good time in the third instalment of the Indian Super League.

For instance, neither of them has been prolific in terms of scoring. Furthermore, neither of them has had a standout performer in the five games they’ve played till now. Even more crucially, neither of these teams has found the winning formula in terms of formation and personnel till now, even though both are on the verge of it.

FC Goa’s Form & Strategy

Zico, FC Goa’s manager, has tinkered with his team’s formation and starting line-up from the beginning of the season. It is only in the last couple of games that he settled on a stable formation and set of players. As is obvious to football fans, this has resulted in an upturn in FC Goa results. In case you’re wondering, The Gaurs lost their first three games fairly convincingly, drew their fourth game, and won their last one.

With the first win of the season under their collective belts, The Gaurs will hope to continue their positive momentum into this game. Their problem, however, is that they concede too much. FC Goa has conceded the most goals in the league so far which is the main reason why they are propping up the table for everyone.

The good news is that this match may see Lucio and Arnolin line-up together in the centre of defence for the first time in the league. Having their first choice central defensive pairing available could be key to fixing Goa’s leaky defence. Another key element to note here is the change in goalkeepers. Zico started the first three games with Kattimani but since he has started going with Chowdhury, his team’s fortunes have turned.

Kerala Blasters FC’s Form & Strategy

What will be in favour of FC Goa’s defence is that Kerala Blasters FC isn’t really that proficient in front of goal. They’ve scored the least number of goals in the league. This is something that hasn’t been helped by the constant tinkering by Steve Coppell. Like Zico, Coppell has also been trying to find the right combination of players and shape but his experiments have largely been focused on the attacking side of things.

Coppell has kept his defence very solid but his attack has shifted and changed drastically game to game. In his defence, Coppell has chosen to stick with the Northern Ireland international, Aaron Hughes, and the highly reliable and dependable French, Cedric Hengbart.

The constant flux in Kerala Blasters FC’s attacking line-up could be the reason why they’ve struggled to score goals. They are, in fact, the lowest scoring team in the league and have the dismal return of two goals from five matches so far.

What Will Be The Coin Toss Results?

The safest bet in this game will be for a goalless draw since both teams are pretty bad at scoring. While Kerala has only two goals in five games, Goa is only marginally better with three goals in five games. On top of their scoring records, their projected style of play also favours a goalless draw.

Consider the fact that Kerala is generally stringent when it comes to conceding. Further, consider that Zico will want to tighten things up at the back since they’ve been conceding heavily till now. Between the established record and predictable intentions, the two teams can be expected to be very cautious in this game. Thus, our prediction is a nil – nil draw.